Surkhet, October 20

Construction of Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Project has gained momentum in Surkhet of late.

The project was initiated with the aim of channelling water from Bheri River into the Babai River and using it for irrigation and power generation at Chiple of Bheriganga Municipality in Surkhet.

Bheri-Babai Multi-purpose Diversion Project is one of government’s national pride projects. China Overseas Engineering Group had been awarded the contract to construct the project in February 2015. The company is expected to complete the project on time.

Min Raj Dhakal, senior divisional engineer of the project, said the platform for tunnel boring machine was ready. “Construction of access road, geological test lab and a lab to test the quality of materials have been completed while the machine will be installed only after the completion of construction of basic infrastructure,” said Dhakal.

As per Dhakal, the machine will be used to dig 12 km tunnel from Bheri to Babai River. This machine requires a 150-meter initial tunnel at the entrance before being installed. “We might be able to install the machine by next April,” said the contractor company.

International Italian company Geo data Engineering SPA and Nepali company CDF are jointly providing consultancy services to contractor company.

The water in the Bheri River will be diverted to Babai at a speed of 40 m3 per second by constructing a 15-metre embankment and 12-kilometre-long tunnel at Chiple of the district.

As much as 48 megawatts electricity is estimated to be generated while irrigation facility will be provided for 51,000 hectares of cultivable land in Banke and Bardiya districts after the project comes into operation.

The tunnel will be dug in the first phase while electricity will be generated in the second phase and the water from Bheri River will be diverted to Babai in the third phase of the project. The dam and power house will be constructed soon after the tunnel is ready.

An estimated Rs 3.1 billion directly and Rs 2.1 billion indirectly will be earned from irrigation and electricity supply every year.

Dhakal said the project has launched various other projects in the affected areas in order to uplift the locals’ socio-economic status. “As the project also occupies some area of the national park, we have started the study of wild and aquatic animals.

Chhinchu, Ramghat, Mehelkuna, Mainatada, Dahachaur, Gumi and Lekhfarsa of Surkhet and Belawa of Bardiya VDCs are project affected areas. The project will provide irrigation facility in those areas via surface and lift system as per the demand of the locals.

The estimated cost of the multi-purpose project to be constructed with domestic investment is Rs 16 billion and is supposed to be completed by March.